Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Economists say billions at stake in marijuana fight

More than 300 economists, including a few heavy hitters, have signed a petition endorsing a study by Harvard University researcher Jeffrey Miron that shows the federal government could gain almost $14 billion through stopping the enforcement of marijuana prohibition, and legalizing and taxing it instead.

Economist Stephen Easton wrote in Businessweek that the financial benefits of pot legalization may be even bigger than Miron's findings estimate. Based on the amount of money he thinks it would take to produce and market legal marijuana, combined with an estimate of marijuana consumers, Eatson guesses that legalizing the drug could bring in $45 to $100 billion per year. Easton’s name doesn't appear on the petition.

Some argue that the economic argument for pot legalization is already proven by the benefits states and cities have reaped from making medical marijuana legal. Advocates for Colorado's medical marijuana industry argue that legalization has helped to jumpstart a stalled economy in cities like Boulder and Denver, according to nj.com.